When I was young, I was told that “Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll” was going to ruin the country. What I am seeing today is that “Sex, Politicians, and Espionage” is actually what is ruining the country and our democracy. Just think about it. When sex, secrecy, and political power get mixed together, every intelligence service in the world pays attention. The Epstein files aren’t just about a criminal and the rich people that he surrounded himself with. They show how sexual exploitation creates the kind of vulnerabilities foreign governments like Russia dream of. The most uncomfortable part of that truth is that other countries, such as Great Britain, are taking that threat more seriously than we are.

Jeffrey Epstein didn’t just commit crimes. He built a system. He targeted vulnerable girls, groomed them, controlled them, and used them to gain access to powerful men. That abuse wasn’t just immoral; it gave him power and leverage. Victims were scared, ashamed, and often silenced. Powerful men who crossed the line didn’t want their names exposed. The combination of frightened victims and nervous elites is exactly the kind of environment foreign intelligence services in countries such as Russia and China look for to exploit. I am sure that anyone who has worked in intelligence would tell you the same thing. You don’t look for proof of espionage; you look for the risk. You look for the leverage, the access, and the motive. Epstein's network created all of these. A man who collects secrets, controls victims, and surrounds himself with powerful people is exactly that kind of person foreign intelligence services try to use.

This is where Trump enters the picture- not as a villain, but as a vulnerability to be exploited, which I believe he has been. Trump and Epstein were friends for years. That is a documented fact. The new files show Epstein using Trump's name in conversation with foreign intermediaries and staying close to people who are close to Trump during the 2016 transition. None of this proves that Trump did anything wrong. It does show why counterintelligence officials worry when a president has old ties to someone who has built a network based on sexual exploitation and secrecy. There are also problems with Trump's private conversations with Putin without American note-takers or advisors present. In one case, he even took the interpreters' notes. Trump works for us; he is our employee. He shouldn’t have any private conversations with any world leader where there is no record of what was said. When a U.S. President talks to a foreign adversary with no record, no witnesses, and no accountability, America is flying blind. Putin isn’t. Epstein did have a relationship with Russia and maybe Putin himself. Put these pieces together – Epstein's sex-based leverage system, Trump's undocumented talks with Putin, the lack of transparency, and Epstein's relationship with Russia, and you get one huge National security risk. We are not talking conspiracy. We are talking risk.

There is one part that should bother every America no matter your political party. Other countries are responding more forcefully than we are. The United Kingdom has openly investigated Epstein's ties to powerful figures, including royal family members. They have treated the situation as a threat to their institutions, not a political fight. Poland has opened an investigation into Epstein and connections to Russian intelligence. France has faced public outrage and media pressure to investigate French nationals linked to Epstein. Even Israel has had a more open public debate about whether Epstein was used by foreign intelligence. Several non-U.S. political figures have been forced to resign: Jack Lang, the former French cultural minister, resigned because of business dealings with Epstein through an offshore company, prompting a tax fraud laundering probe. Miroslav Lajcak, a former foreign minister of Slovakia and, more recently, national security advisor, stepped down after documents showed that he had exchanged emails with Epstein about “girls” and diplomatic measures. Mona Juul, a senior Norwegian diplomat, resigned because of her communications with Epstein. We have had several people in the United Kingdom, the most newsworthy being the arrest of Prince Andrew, because of his association with Epstein.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the country where Epstein lived, operated, and was first prosecuted, it has treated the whole thing as just one big political nightmare instead of the national security nightmare that it is. Our institutions act as if digging too deep might embarrass the wrong people. Many questions need to be answered. One that jumps out at me right away is why that secret deal was made with Epstein in 2008 during the Bush administration? Why was there a secret deal not to prosecute Epstein’s co-conspirators? Who are the co-conspirators? Why was the Bush administration protecting the co-conspirators?  Why was the Bush administration so willing to violate the law by not informing the victims of the secret deal? You can even ask why the Obama administration didn’t reopen the secret deal. They are subpoenaing the Clintons, but not touching where the problem started, which was with the Bush Department of Justice. What this is in America is a political situation trying to embarrass the other political party instead of searching for the truth. The Republican-led Congress and the Republican Speaker of the House are not the least interested in searching for the truth. They must also investigate how the current Trump administration has worked so hard to hide the truth and ignore the victims' need for justice. Who is Trump protecting? Is Trump one of the co-conspirators that the Bush Administration protected in 2008?

Lost in all of this are the victims. The young girls who were manipulated, abused, and trafficked. Their pain has become a bargaining chip. Their silence has become a shield for powerful men. Their suffering created the very vulnerabilities foreign intelligence services like Russia exploit. The victims are the ones who paid the price while the elites protected themselves. Some may have even paid the price with their lives, such as Virginia Giuffre.

If America wants to protect itself, we need to treat exploitation and secrecy as threats to the country, not public relations problems. That means real transparency. That means real independent oversight. It means real justice.

And it means learning from allies who have shown more backbone than we have. The question isn’t whether Epstein compromised anyone. The question is why our institutions allowed the possibility in the first place. We need to ask why other democracies seem more willing to confront the truth than the United States.